{"id":62029,"date":"2021-07-01T02:37:57","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T08:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=62029"},"modified":"2021-07-01T02:37:57","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T08:37:57","slug":"adam-fox-named-hockeys-top-defenseman-first-jewish-player-to-win-a-major-nhl-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/adam-fox-named-hockeys-top-defenseman-first-jewish-player-to-win-a-major-nhl-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Adam Fox named hockey\u2019s top defenseman, first Jewish player to win a major NHL award"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By MARC BRODSKY<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014 It\u2019s been seven decades since the New York Rangers had a star Jewish defenseman. This season they had the best defenseman in the National Hockey League, Jewish or otherwise.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_62030\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/6-30-21-adamfox-1536x853-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-62030\" class=\"wp-image-62030 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/6-30-21-adamfox-1536x853-1-300x167.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/6-30-21-adamfox-1536x853-1-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/6-30-21-adamfox-1536x853-1-1024x569.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/6-30-21-adamfox-1536x853-1-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/6-30-21-adamfox-1536x853-1.jpg 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/167;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-62030\" class=\"wp-image-62030 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/6-30-21-adamfox-1536x853-1-300x167.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/6-30-21-adamfox-1536x853-1-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/6-30-21-adamfox-1536x853-1-1024x569.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/6-30-21-adamfox-1536x853-1-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/6-30-21-adamfox-1536x853-1.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-62030\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adam Fox skates in a game against the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden in Boston, May 8, 2021. (Steve Babineau\/NHLI via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Adam Fox, a native of New York\u2019s suburban Long Island and a longtime Rangers fan, was named the winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy on Tuesday signifying the top defenseman.<\/p>\n<p>The 23-year-old, a former star at Harvard, joins Hall of Famer Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins to win the award in their second seasons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s special,\u201d said Fox, whose father is a longtime season ticket holder for the Rangers, according to the New York Post. \u201cI\u2019ve been throwing that word around a lot the last few weeks and it\u2019s now accurate for how I feel. You hear your name with [Orr and Leetch], it\u2019s always going to be a special, special thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He was referencing Brian Leetch, a former Rangers defenseman and also a Norris Trophy winner.<\/p>\n<p>Along with stopping opposing scorers, Fox led NHL defensemen with 42 assists while finishing second in points with 47. He also was recognized as first team all-league.<\/p>\n<p>Asked by the New York Post about being one of the NHL\u2019s few Jewish athletes, he said in a 2019 interview, \u201cIt\u2019s definitely nice to represent a community, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fox follows in the footsteps of one Hy Buller, who played three seasons for the Rangers in the early 1950s. He was named to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 1951-52, according to the iconic hockey writer Stan Fischler, also Jewish.<\/p>\n<p>Fox, like Buller, is 5-foot-11 and weighs 181 pounds, compensating for a lack of size with speed. And he\u2019s a fan favorite, also like Buller.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBuller\u2019s connection to the large Jewish population in New York was used by Rangers management to attract a new audience to the home games,\u201d Fischler recalls one remembrance. \u201cBanners emblazoned with the Star of David hung from The Garden and his faith was frequently reinforced by sports writers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Rangers also featured Alex Levinsky, a Jewish defenseman in the 1930s.<br \/>\nIn 2019, the New Jersey Devils drafted Jack Hughes \u2014 the first Jewish player to be picked No. 1.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Adam%20Fox%20named%20hockey%E2%80%99s%20top%20defenseman%2C%20first%20Jewish%20player%20to%20win%20a%20major%20NHL%20award\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":62030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1491],"tags":[11477,8790,8795,7332,6665,8788,11478],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62029"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62029"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62031,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62029\/revisions\/62031"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}